Chopping board

The materials

End-grain wood

The knife edge slips between the fibres rather than across them, so it is the kindest surface to a blade and it partly self-heals. Expensive, heavy, needs oiling.

Edge-grain wood

The everyday wooden board. Kind to knives, attractive, needs care. Beech, maple and oak are the common woods.

Plastic (HDPE)

Dishwasher safe, cheap, light, and easy to have several of for different foods. Scores over time, and deep scores are harder to clean.

Bamboo

Technically a grass, and harder than most woods — so tougher on knives than it looks. Light and cheap.

Rubber and composite

Used in professional kitchens. Excellent for knives, heavy, expensive, ugly.

Glass, granite, marble, ceramic

Do not use these for cutting. They will destroy a knife edge in a handful of strokes. Fine as serving boards.

Wood or plastic, honestly

The hygiene argument has gone back and forth for decades. Plastic can be put through a dishwasher, which is a genuine advantage. Wood has some natural antimicrobial properties and does not develop the deep knife scores plastic does — though it also cannot be washed as aggressively.

For food-safety questions about handling raw meat, the relevant national authority publishes guidance and it is worth following. As a practical matter, most kitchens do best with a large wooden board for general use and a plastic board kept for raw meat and fish that goes in the dishwasher, which sidesteps the argument entirely.

What matters more than the material is size and stability, and those get far less attention.

What actually matters

• Size. Almost every home board is too small. Food pushed off the edge, or piled up where you are trying to cut, is the main cause of slow, frustrating prep. Buy the largest board that fits your worktop and your sink.
• It must not slide. A damp cloth or a sheet of kitchen paper under the board stops it moving, and a board that moves while you cut is the single most dangerous thing in a domestic kitchen.
• Thickness. A thin board flexes and warps. A thick one stays flat and feels solid under the knife.
• Two boards, minimum. One for raw meat and fish, one for everything else. This is the food-safety point that actually matters.
• A juice groove is useful for carving and a nuisance for everything else, because it reduces the usable area.

Caring for a wooden board

• Wash by hand with hot soapy water and dry it standing on edge. Never soak it, and never put it in a dishwasher — it will crack and warp.
• Oil it regularly with food-grade mineral oil, or a board cream of mineral oil and beeswax. Vegetable oils go rancid; mineral oil does not.
• Oil it when it starts looking dry and pale, which is roughly monthly for a new board and less often once it is saturated.
• Sand out deep gouges with fine paper and re-oil, or scrape it flat. A wooden board is repairable, which is much of the argument for one.
• Deodorise with coarse salt and half a lemon rubbed over the surface.

Common questions